Cry For Happy

These past few months I have been really interested in going back in time and exploring lesser known bands and releases on some of the bigger and more successful labels. I spent a bit of time going through the SST discography, and recently got interested in Minutemen, Buffalo Tom and Screaming Trees. Those were all bands that I had heard of but never really listened to, so their names stood out. But I also made a shortlist of other bands who sounded interesting, and figured that I would get around to checking them at some point.

One of these bands was Angst. They were a band from Colorado who formed in 1979 (!) and who then played through to the end of the 1980s. I checked them out and was really into it, so I had a look around and managed to find one of their LPs for cheap. 'Cry For Happy' was their fourth LP from 1988. I started here simply because it was available for sale in the UK at a really low price.

Unlike a lot of SST releases, this one comes with a lyric sheet insert.

Oh yeah, and I also found a test press of this LP too for cheap. You know I can't resist those classic Rainbo test press labels.

I'm really, really interested in this band. They originally hail from Colorado, but apparently moved to the UK for a little while, before then going back home to the States and settling in San Francisco. From what I read, they never made much of an impact, but did enough to get signed by SST, and managed to keep going long enough to crank out 4 LPs. They sound at times like a British indie band, and other times a bit like Bob Dylan. Yeah, I know, sounds weird, but it really works. I also read that apparently Frank Black said that Angst would be the band that he would most like to reform and play, and that they were a big influence on the Pixies. A great record for me to have found just before Summer gets going (if Summer gets going this year that is!), and I'm really keen to find the other three LPs at some point.

Holy Rollers

Towards the end of last year and the start of this one, I was getting into some Dischord (and related) stuff that I hadn't really been too into previously. This led me to looking through the label's catalogue and seeing if there were any other bands that I had never checked out, and I ended up listening to Holy Rollers for the first time in my life. They started out as a trio in the late 80s and ended a few years later in the early 90s as a four piece. I was quite into what I heard, so decided to look for records, and discovered that everything that they had done was super cheap. So I bought three LPs...

The first LP, 'As Is', was released as Dischord 42 in 1990. Bits of this really remind me of one of my other favourite Dischord bands, Jawbox.

The second LP, 'Fabuley', was released in 1991 as Dischord 58. The cover is, in my opinion, awful. But nevermind. Beyond the art, the record is great. It still reminds me a lot of Jawbox, but the guitar on a couple of the songs reminds me of Helmet.

I also got a test press / promo copy of this one too. It was super cheap. Nico tells me this is one of the most common of these Dischord promo releases. But still, the price that I got this for was a steal, being just a little more than a new release 7" costs these days.

This copy comes with a promo poster and press kit.

The third and final self titled LP, released as Dischord 86 in 1993. At this point one of the original members had left, and the band had expanded to being four humans rather than three, with a second guitarist added. You can tell that the sound shifted as a result.

This record sounds quite different to the other two, but I have to say, I think this is their best. Also, the last song on here ('Pure') is outstanding. If the rest of the record sounded like that then this would be fighting for a place in the list of top 10 Dischord releases ever. Yes, that's a strong statement, but listen to the song and tell me I'm wrong.

All of these records put together cost me a fraction more than the current price of one new release LP. For whatever reason, it seems that nobody cares about this band these days. But this is exactly what I am enjoying these last couple of years - exploring the lesser known bands/records from certain labels' back catalogues. I probably wouldn't have been into this sound when the band were actually around as my attention would have been absorbed by other bands back then, but all these years later this sounds really good to me.

Test Press Is The Reason

Revelation test pressings have always been pretty hard to come by. Even in the current record collecting climate, where test pressings are frequently made in larger than necessary quantities and sold by bands or labels online, Revelation tests continue to remain elusive and out of reach for most people. I think this is largely because the quantities have always been low, especially compared to modern pressings by most other labels. Rev continue to order 4 or 5 tests for most records they release, so it stands to reason that most people are unlikely to get hold of one. However, one of the exceptions is this test press of the Texas Is The Reason 7".

This is not an original test press from the first pressing from 1995. I think this test is for the clear vinyl pressing of the 7" that was made for the Rev25 shows back in 2012. It would have been pressed at Rainbo, but has plain white labels rather than the standard Rainbo labels.

I remember seeing this test press advertised a few years ago when Merchnow held a raffle to win one when you preordered a t-shirt. I think this was during a period when there were a few raffles to help the Black Lives Matter movement. At the time I didn't enter this raffle (although I did enter and win a Down To Nothing test press which I was stoked about at the time). Anyway, I found the ad for this raffle still online:

Given that five of these were given away by Merchnow, I always assumed that this wasn't actually a Rev pressing, but instead made by Equal Vision or the band themselves, so it was never really high on my want list. But when I saw this for sale, I reached out to Rev for info, and in response received confirmation that these were definitely made by Rev, and sent to the band. The band got Merchnow to make the covers that matched the black on black t-shirt design, and each member kept five copies, with the remaining five being given to the raffle. This nicely accounts for the 25 copies that this is numbered out of (mine being number 6):

I once technically owned a first press test press of this 7" for a couple of weeks, but sent it on to someone who wanted it more than I. Given the difficulty in finding a first press test, this will do nicely for me as a consolation prize. But with there being 25 of these out there, the chances of finding one are significantly higher than most other Rev test pressings.

Buffalo Tom

I had never really listened to Buffalo Tom before. Some kid at school used to like them, and at the time I had worked out that anything that he liked, I didn't. Of course, as the years have rolled by I have revised my view on some of that stuff (namely Ride and Ned's Atomic Dustbin), so when I saw Buffalo Tom named in the SST discography, my mind flashed back to the early 90s and I was curious to give them a go with a 2026 frame of mind. They hail from Boston, MA and their sound reminds me a bit of Dinosaur Jr. Within one minute of the first song I listened to, I realised that this was something that I was definitely into, and I was on an instant shopping spree. I was pleasantly surprised to find that their records aren't actually that rare or expensive these days.

I decided to buy a copy of their first, self-titled album. It came out on SST in 1989 as SST 250. There were only ever black vinyl copies pressed.

I alsp found a test press for sale and I couldn't resist grabbing it as the price was pretty low. As with most SST tests, it comes with a single sheet of paper which contains info about the record (band name, record title, song titles). This copy is really faded so is barely legible. It's still cool though. There's something about the gold Rainbo labels...

The band started in 1986 and are still going. They had a few quiet years in the early 00s, but are still going today, and have ten albums to their name. I'm not sure I'm so into this that I want to pick up nine more, but who knows?

Brat Fest

Sometimes you see a record online and your brain instantly shouts 'WANT!' at you. Such was the case when I saw a picture of the test press for the upcoming repress of the Disembodied 'Psalms Of Sheol' 12". It comes in a rip off sleeve of the Charli XCX 'Brat' album, which is pretty iconic in it's own right, and also comes on a matching colour vinyl... which is rare for a test press. It just looked awesome so I decided that I wanted one and then made a move.

This thing looks so good that it even made me want to buy the Charli XCX record. I listened to it, and I wasn't really into it, but there's this part of my brain that thinks it would be good to be able to put the two things side by side in order to appreciate this thing even more.

The repress of this record was announced last week, and features all new artwork. But of course, it doesn't look anywhere as cool as this test press. I love a good rip off cover, and one that comes from outside of the world of hardcore / punk seems somehow even more interesting, as even 'normal' people may appreciate it. Not that they will ever see it of course.

Well anyway, I had for many years also wanted the Mudhoney rip off sleeve for the same record. It was made for Rain Fest in Seattle back in 2010. Watching their set now, the first thing that strikes me is how young the singer looks. Anyway, I love how they made a rip off cover of a Seattle band for a Seattle event. Given that they also made a New Order rip off for the UK show in 2010, it seems that someone here gives some real thought to what they are doing, which I really appreciate.

Interestingly, this rip off cover is technically a rip off of a CD rather than an LP. Mudhoney's first 12" was titled 'Superfuzzbigmuff' (named after two guitar pedals, 'Super Fuzz' and 'Big Muff'), but there was a later CD version titled 'Superfuzzbigmuff plus early singles'. I am sure that this would have been intentional, as ripping off the CD cover & title makes more sense, as this Disembodied release is itself a compilation of early singles. So again, the thought that went into this is fantastic.

Of course, I now find myself in familiar territory. I never intended to collect this release, but now that I have these I feel myself wanting the Bauhaus sleeve version, and the first press test press. And might as well get a regular sleeve version too. Ugh. Why does my brain work this way?

Nardcore Tests

Over the last few years I've picked up some great Nardcore records. For anyone who is unfamilliar, 'Nardcore' is a term that describes hardcore punk bands from Oxnard, a city that is located in Southern California, roughly 50 miles north of Los Angeles, and has a strong skateboard and surfing community as well as more than its fair share of hardcore bands, dating back to the early 80s.

Back in 2022 I picked up a compilation LP that Indecision Records released in 2020 called 'Nardcore For Life'. I really enjoyed that record and it definitely helped ignite an interest in the Nardcore scene. Recently a test press appeared on eBay and I was intent on winning it. In the end I got it, and for only $23.46 (plus postage). Like a few other Indecision Records tests from the last few years, this comes in a spray painted sleeve.

A couple of months after I picked up the 'Nardcore For Life' comp, in November 2022, I picked up another compilation called simply 'Nardcore'. The version I got was a repress on It's Alive Records, although the compilation was originally released by Mystic Records back in 1984. Well, I got a test press of this one too, and it came in a regular sleeve:

I'm really not sure which version this is a test press of. It has a 2018 date written on the labels, but also has 'Mystic' written on it. According to discogs (which isn't always right), the only pressing of this in 2018 was on It's Alive Records, not Mystic. So something doesn't quite add up. But anyway, whatever, it's still a cool find.

A Benefit For Big Frank

Last year I went to the Big Frank Harrison memorial show in Orange County. It was a great day for me that I will never forget, but it was also slightly sad to remember the reason that the show was happening in the first place.

Thinking aboutBig Frank and his label, Nemesis Records, and some of the bands he put out reminded me that there was a benefit record put together for Frank a few years ago, in 2018. I felt compelled to pick one up, even though the original point of it has elapsed. There were two different colours of vinyl pressed, but I got lucky and ended up with a test press.

This was put out by Not Like You Records in 2018 and features a bunch of bands selected by Big Frank himself. There are 12 songs / bands on here of varying styles and age. Some I have heard of (Integrity, Himsa, Terror, Nails, Done Dying), and others I haven't heard or have never been interested in (All Pigs Must Die, Electric Frankenstein, Pressure Point, Leviathan, Whiskey Rebels, Take Offense, Disfear). And whilst compilations seem slightly less pointless in the modern era than they used to be in the pre-internet world, this one seems more significant than most, especially with hindsight.

Zozobra Test II

Another record that I picked up from my recent trip to the States is one that I had been watching for about three months. Every week I get an email from Wanna Hear It Records listing their latest batch of used records for sale. Three months or so ago they got a text press of a Zozobra 2xLP which I was immediately interested in. However, what often happens is that I see something for sale, don't buy it, wait a few weeks, and then when I am thinking about actually buying it, I go back to find it has sold and gone. In this case, however, the record sat in the shop for several weeks.

Roughly a month or so after the record first appeared for sale, back at the start of October, Mike went to the shop and I asked him to send me a pic of the record. The pic he sent confirmed that I wanted it. However, I didn't want to ask him to buy it for me. Instead, I planned to order it. However, a few weeks later and I still hadn't gotten around to it, and somehow it had still not sold. So I decided that I would leave it down to fate. I knew I would be going to the shop at the end of my trip in mid December. So I just figured that I would buy it then. And if it sold in the interim then so be it.

Well, this time my luck was in and I was able to pick it up in person. A pretty satisfying way to close out the year.

Zozobra was a project band put together by Caleb Scofield (ex Cave In bass player who sadly passed away in 2018). They put out two full length LPs, 'Harmonic Tremors' (2007) and 'Bird Of Prey' (2008), both of which were released by Hydrahead Records. I actually picked up test presses of both records back in 2020. This double LP pack that combines both records in one sleeve was made specifically to raise money for Caleb's family following his passing in 2019. There were 600 copies of the set pressed on random colour vinyl, and they sold out uber fast when released, and I missed out. So picking up this test pressing all these years later makes me very happy.

Boston, Don't Wait Up

I went to see Bane play in London a couple of months ago. It had been ten years since I had last seen them play, and in betweem they had played a last show and broken up for good... and then got back together a couple of years ago. Following their reformartion, Equal Vision have been busy repressing their records, with three of their four albums having been repressed on multiple different colours of vinyl. There were so many copies of the the first two LPs made that I took the decision to not bother trying to collect them. And just like that, twenty five years or so of trying to collect every version of every Bane record came to an end. However, that doesn't mean that I'm never buying another Bane record. Far from it...

When I saw that the city series 7"s had been pressed as a 12" for the first time, I decided to pick up one copy and leave it there. The decision on which version to pick up was made pretty easy, as the band had some copies for sale on tour, so I just grabbed one at the London show. It was sealed, and you can probably imagine my thoughts when I opened it up to find this crazy colour combination.

I'd arranged to do a trade at the show with Ralf. Well, not so much a trade, but an exchange. I'd been storing a few items for him at my house, and he had repaid the favour, and there was an opportunity to exchange everything at the show. I'd actually forgotten that one of the records I was getting was another Bane record, being a test press of the ten year anniversary pressing of the fourth LP, 'Don't Wait Up' on End Hits Records.

I'm pretty happy to have this one as I have somehow managed to lose the original test press of this one on the same label. I don't think that I have ever lost any other record other than that one, and over the last few years it has driven me absolutely crazy. I'll probably never know what happened to it, so this is a fair replacement for that gap on my shelf.

Damage Control

If you read this thing with any regulatory then you'll know that I enjoyed the 90s era of music, and also that I enjoy test presses. So it will be of no surprise that a combination of the two things is always something that I am excited by.

A year or so back, Nico was in a record store and messaged me asking if I would be interested in a Die 116 test press. I had to ask which record it was, as the band had two releases and I already own a test of 'Dyna Cool', but by good fortune this turned out to be the one that I didn't have... the first record, 'Damage Control'. SO I asked him to grab it for me and then, a year later, he delivered it to my house. What a service!

The test came in a generic white sleeve that someone had written on. I dug out my regular copy to show the cover as it makes for a slightly more interesting picture.

This record was released by Wreck-age Records in 1994, and I bought it when it came out as the description I read at the time said that it contained members of Burn and it sounded like Burn. Back then that was a guaranteed way to get most hardcore kids to throw their money at you. The band had Gavin Van Vlack (Burn), Andrew Gormley (Rorschach, Kiss It Goodbye), Keith Huckins (Rorschach, Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye) and a couple of other dudes. Their second record seemed to be pressed in higher numbers and better distributed, but it had a different sound and was in my opinion nowhere near as good as this debut five song 12". If you've not heard this record then it's well worth checking out if you like 90s hardcore and any of the bands mentioned.

Hard To Believe

A couple of years ago I picked up an LP titled 'Existing The Dream', the debut from Low Coast, a band fronted by by Jeff Caudill (of Gameface fame). Well, at some point a few months ago, the label put some test pressings up for sale, and even though I can't remember whether I got an email to tell me about it or saw an instagram post, I bought one immediately.

The record was released by Spartan Records, and the test comes in one of their standard test press sleeves, which I have to say looks great.

The name of the band and record is hand written and numbered at the bottom of the front cover. I got number 2 of 10.

I still isten to this record often and recommend it highly if you enjoy Jeff's voice. I really hope that they get around to putting something else out in the near future.

Things That Make No Sense

A few weeks ago Nico stopped by for a short visit on his way home from a couple of days in the UK to watch a couple of HR (of Bad Brains fame) shows. Time passed way too fast and we ran out of time to get food, but it was a good couple of hours of record nerd chat... and a small exchange of records that we had been holding for each other for a few months.

One record that I was really stoked about was this test press of Dag Nasty's third LP, 'Field Day'. Apparently he offered it to me and I paid for it months ago, and I had absolutely zero memory of this, so it was a nice bonus.

This is a test press of the European pressing on We Bite Records, whiich is my third copy of this record (along with the green vinyl on We Bite Records, the green vinyl on Giant Records) and also the 6th Dag Nasty test press in my collection. I just need a test press of the Giant Records version and I will consider this collection complete.

Also, I know that this is their worst record, but I still find it odd that this record has never been reissued. I mean, surely it would sell based purely on the fact that its Dag Nasty. Is there a reason that it has been kept out of print I wonder? Anyone know?

Another Year

Another record that I picked up on my recent trip to California, and I had paid for this a few weeks prior, so it was just sat there waiting for me to collect it from a friend when I arrived in town.

This is a test press for the In Control 'Another Year' LP. The band were from Oxnard, and I bought this from the king of Oxnard himself, Fred Hammer.

This record was released by Indecision Records back in 2001, in the days of the yellow Erika Records standard test press labels seen on many (now classic) hardcore records that are now considered classics.

I bought this from Indecision Records when it came out back in 2001. Back then Indecision was absolutely on fire, putting out stuff by bands like Count Me Out, The Suicide File, Over My Dead Body, The Promise, etc and as a result this album got kinda lost in the mix a little for me. Seeing this test press for sale made me go back and revisit this record recently, and I think it holds up really well. I also still love the artwork and vinyl colour of the regular pressing of this LP, which I took down from the shelf for the first time in probably twenty years.

So Much Seething

Towards the back end of last year, Mike posted about the new Bent Blue LP, and his words got me interested. I feel that Bent Blue is a band that I have been wanting to spend some time with for a long time, and I have never really gotten around to it. I saw them play live once a little over three years ago, which was before they had any records out, and at the time I wasn't exactly blown away... although, to be fair I didn't actually pay them too much attention. Still, Mike made it sound like the LP was a bit of step up from the previous 12"s, so I made a mental note to check them out, and then I eventually got around to it about seven months later.

The record is titled 'So Much Seething' and was released by Indecision Records in October last year. There are two colours of vinyl available - the purple I picked up (150 made) and also green vinyl (350 made). I just went with the more limited one.

Picking this up at Indecision HQ, I was also able to walk away with a test press, which comes in a nice handmade sleeve.

I only started listening to this one a few days ago, but right now this is possibly my favourite record. It does strike a good balance between 'hardcore' and the more typical DC Revolution Summer type sound. Mike talked about the song 'The Other Half', which really reminds me of Have Heart, and the song 'Your remains' really reminds me of Fiddlehead. If I were to say that this record stands halfway between both of those bands then that at least gives you an indication of whether it may be of interest or not. But right now this is ticking the boxes and is exactly what I want.

Vendetta

I picked up a few releases from Indecision Records about three months ago and had been working my way through them before my California trip last month. One record that I was enjoyng was 'Death Grip', a full length from a band called Vendetta. I'd never heard of the band before, and picked this up purely because it was on Indecision, and the bio told me that the band come from Oxnard, which has a rich history of great hardcore bands.

The title of the record and the cover art gives you a clue that this isn't some kind of melodic punk or emo record. This is a hardcore record by a band that it turns out has been going for over twenty years. Their last release was in 2007, so I guess this must be some kind of comeback record. It's mosh hardcore and it's good. It really reminds me of another Oxnard band (Retaliate) who I also really like when I want something that makes me want to feel like punhcing a wall.

The more common vinyl colour is red, which I think probably goes better with the artwork. I was sent this red with black splatter, which is the more limited colour and out of 150 copies.

So I'd been enjoying this record a few weeks before my trip, and then wHen I visited Dave at Indecision HQ and had a quick look in his record room, he dug out a test press of this record and gave it to me. I was very grateful.

I like how it comes in a simple sleeve, and how the sleeve is red to match the artwork of the record. Simple designs are always better.